By Sunnivie Brydum and Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Magazine.
Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for Georgia News Connection reporting for the YES! Media-Public News Service Collaboration

For more than 40 years, a bill to establish a congressional commission to consider reparations to Black Americans has languished in Congress. House Resolution 40, originally drafted by the late Rep. John Conyers, has been introduced in every congressional session since 1989.

Reparations are about more than just a check or financial restitution. At their root, reparations are about repair-recognizing the historic and ongoing harm caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and all that followed, including Jim Crow segregation, voter suppression, continued police violence, and ongoing systemic racism in housing, employment, education, and more.

Despite continued resistance at the federal level to provide reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans, the United States does have a history of issuing reparations-reparations were issued to Japanese Americans who were unjustly detained during World War II. In fact, when enslaved people were emancipated, the U.S. government issued reparations-to former slaveholders, in recognition of the loss of their "property." Yet the U.S. continues to lack the political will to seriously consider making reparations to Black Americans.

In the face of political intransigence, Black organizers, community members, and movement leaders have created a rich ecosystem to manifest reparations at both the state and local levels.

HR 40 now has nearly 200 sponsors, and there are calls for President Biden to sign an executive order appointing a commission to study reparations. Rep. Cori Bush has introduced a new bill with a concrete figure of $14 trillion to fund compensation for the descendants of enslaved people. Spurred by grassroots momentum-especially in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020-states such as California and cities such as Evanston, Illinois, are even further along in the project of reparations.

YES! was privileged to be the media partner of the inaugural Alight, Align, Arise conference-a historic and unprecedented national convening on reparations hosted by the Decolonizing Wealth Project. Over the course of three days in June 2023, hundreds of activists, organizers, politicians, and funders gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, to connect, collaborate, and take action to make reparations a reality in our lifetimes. On the final day of the conference, DWP announced a $20 million campaign to support the reparations ecosystem with a new round of direct grantmaking of $3 million to be deployed in 2023, in addition to other resource and education programs to support the reparations movement over the next five years.


Sunnivie Brydum and Sonali Kolhatkar wrote this article for YES! Magazine.

A report on conditions in Oregon's only women's prison has prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to assemble an advisory panel which will meet for the first time this week.

The Gender Informed Practices Assessment was ordered by the state and released in mid-August. It details unsafe conditions at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, including a high number of attempted suicides, lack of mental health resources, and staff and inmate reports of sexual misconduct.

Bobbin Singh, executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, said the report should generate action.

"I hope this GIPA report actually provides a meaningful wake-up call to public officials in all three branches of government to actually look at this and be concerned," Singh urged. "Because essentially what we're describing is human rights violations happening in our state."

Kotek's panel meets on Thursday. Singh pointed out conditions in the prison have been well documented. In July, his organization released a report with stories from people suffering inside Coffee Creek.

Singh argued it is up to every branch of government to fix the situation.

"To the task force itself, we'll see what happens with that," Singh observed. "Unless there's meaningful oversight of the Department of Corrections, there's no way to know if anything that's recommended by this task force will be implemented or implemented well."

Singh hopes the report will reveal what is allegedly happening to people who are incarcerated in Coffee Creek, and allow the public to make its own determination regarding the prison's unsafe conditions.

"It's true, we're not being hyperbolic, we're not just saying things for the sake of saying things," Singh stressed. "This is how we're treating people here in Oregon."


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Rural areas in North Carolina have long been grappling with limited access to services, from health care to internet access, and a unique nonprofit group is taking on these challenges and others, with young people at the helm.

Called "A Better Chance, A Better Community," the organization in Halifax County is nicknamed "ABC-2."

Makayla Johnson, recreational facilitator for the group, said one initiative it is focusing on is recreation equity, because having recreational opportunities is key to better health.

"In order for a community to be healthy and happy, they have to have access to things they can do, and recreation is not just having parks," Johnson emphasized. "It's making sure the areas are walkable and bikeable around town; it's having things for our seniors to do, it's having things for our kids to do. So, it's about creating opportunities."

Johnson pointed out they are also helping with resources to fight food insecurity, which is a big problem in rural North Carolina. ABC 2 developed a local produce box program, offering fresh foods to community members. The group is part of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot program with the state. One of the ABC-2 campaigns, School Meals for All, advocates for free breakfast and lunch at schools.

Right now, many rural areas are using American Rescue Plan Act funding to help build up broadband service. The North Carolina Department of Information and Technology estimates more than one million households in the state still lack internet access.

Johnson stressed they are making sure their communities are part of the conversation. She said ABC-2 is focusing on how to build digital inclusion, post-pandemic.

"We have a Digital Inclusion Task Force, also tying in the work we're doing to the digital inclusion conversation, because a lot of counties in the state, but also in our area, notice an issue with the lack of broadband," Johnson explained. "That's one of the main focuses that they're going to do for the ARPA funding."

She added the group also participates in events like "Party at the Polls," engaging more young people in the political process by helping them register to vote. The goal is to encourage them to learn more and make informed decisions which will affect their own health and well-being.


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The Volunteer State, like many others, isn't immune to the recent wave of antisemitic acts and rhetoric, and the state is fighting back through education.

In Tennessee, from early 2021 to mid-2022, 111 incidents of hate or violence were reported against Jewish people.

Julie Katz, associate director of the American Jewish Committee's Southeastern Office, said the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism is a step in the right direction, and safety in Jewish communities is a top priority in the national plan.

"There are 100 action items that federal agencies can take, and 100 more that institutions - like universities and local governments - can also take," she said. "And it's actually quite similar to American Jewish Committee's call to action that we've released in past years, based on lessons we've learned from combating antisemitism in Europe."

Research by the Anti-Defamation League showed more than 85% of Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope, as opposed to 61% in 2019. Katz added that an AJC study found that 31% of Americans are even unfamiliar with the term "antisemitism."

Katz emphasized that almost two-thirds of American Jews have experienced antisemitism online, and the number for those younger than age 30 is 85%. She said AJC released a call to action that asks governments, universities, corporations and social media companies to take steps to combat this trend.

"It's concrete steps, like making sure that social media companies are not using algorithms that promote hateful rhetoric or promote violence," she said. "It's steps to make sure that universities understand what antisemitism is, and are utilizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism."

Katz acknowledged it will be important to assess the plan's potential impact and whether it can truly put an end to antisemitism in the United States - including in spots such as Nashville, where it has been on the rise.

"This plan that the Biden administration has for combating antisemitism is going to have an impact locally," she said, "because it'll trickle down into the sectors of Tennessee society and government that affect Jews and all of Tennesseans."

Katz added that it's important that anyone who experiences antisemitism report the incident to law enforcement.


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